No Groceries on Credit

Originally Aired: June 24, 1938 Lum #51, "No Groceries on Credit," Lum finds himself in a predicament after selling his half of the Jot 'Em Down Store to Squire Skimp. Having spent his entire thousand dollars on legal fees to claim an English inheritance and a ticket to Europe, Lum now needs groceries to tide him over until his July 6th departure from New York. When he asks Squire for credit at the store he once co-owned, Squire firmly refuses, enforcing a strict no-credit policy for everyone. Gone are the days when Lum could nibble crackers from the barrel or extend neighborly credit to hungry townsfolk. Lum turns to his old partner Abner for help, but a hilariously confusing conversation ensues about Grandpap's situation at Dick Huddleston's competing store next door. Abner explains that Grandpap's "hands are tied" regarding extending credit, which Lum takes literally, leading to an extended Abbott-and-Costello-style misunderstanding about whether Grandpap is actually bound with rope. As the two friends talk in circles about tied hands, stepladders, and Dick's orders, Lum's grocery dilemma remains unsolved.